I was on my app...now I'm sitting at my desk. For years, used Rain-X...put on fresh every month or so to keep it working good. I lived in England (rains a bit there) then the midwest and northern midwest.. again with some rain. Never did like how it would start to haze or streak.

I found this stuff at Napa called "Aquapel". It works a bit differently than Rain-X, but I put it on my car one time in a year. Drove through the rainy season in the South/Gulf Coast...barely needed wipers. Went into Oregon/Washington during their rainy stretch a few months later... barely needed wipers.

The stuff is mind blowingly better than Rain X. Boom...Done.

Biggest trick? You've got to get your windshield 100% clean first (all old residues/etc have to be removed...hard water scale cleaner works great). Then...1 tube of Aquapel...amazing.

It's actually made by a company that makes glass... If you've heard of PPG industries...

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Only 1 car remains in the stable as of now:
2011 BMW 335D (as in 450lb ft torque diesel) (still have this...it's amazing with 30+ mpg)
Next on the list:
2014 WK2 CRD Trailhawk II or Summit or Overland loaded...I will order this fall...

That's kind of strange. Since the material for the blades isn't manufactured one blade at a time, you'd think more people would have the same problem. Plus the fact that you got 2 bad blades, not just one.

Even if it wasn't RainX, it seems to me that something had gotten on to the windshield that caused it. But, at least the problem is solved, and that's what matters most.

Oh, and the best glass cleaner in the world? NAPA's aerosol cleaner in a blue can...or there's another company with a white aerosol can. You can't make that stuff streak.

__________________
Only 1 car remains in the stable as of now:
2011 BMW 335D (as in 450lb ft torque diesel) (still have this...it's amazing with 30+ mpg)
Next on the list:
2014 WK2 CRD Trailhawk II or Summit or Overland loaded...I will order this fall...

Rain X should be fine if you spray on damp rag to apply thus staying away from wiper sensor in center of windshield. In reality though I have covered it with Rain X and no problem. Yes, the OEM wipers suck. What happened to you has happened to me. Very warm and humid outside, A/C roaring inside = condensation. Weird. Bosch Icons seems to be the best, but none are perfect. My Icons are almost 2 years old. Only a little lift in the center of the driver's side now.

Got my Icons at Carquest if that helps. They had plenty. Just one more note. Since my Jeep was new you could hear the wipers going back and forth on the windshield. At first I wasn't sure what the noise was, until I turned off the wipers, (it rains a lot here). The Icons are noiseless. Definitely a worthwhile investment. I've been using them for years. They're also great in the snow.

I had FlexBlade type wipers on my Ford Five Hundred and they worked very well in Minnesota winters overall. The continuous spring design does make it fairly easy to clear ice as you can just gently flex the blade along it's entire length to break up ice that accumulates.

The thing is...
I don't care what blade you have, driving through a snow storm is always a pain because the snow melts and refreezes to the blades and causes problems. If it's bad, I usually pop open the moon roof in the vent position, set the HVAC to the windshield position and set the temp to 80 degrees. This keeps hot air moving over the windshield (helps to keep the wipers clear longer) and the vented moon roof allows the hot air to escape so you don't roast.

I've driven through one winter with the OEM blades and didn't have too many problems. I'm still on the fence as to go with the UniBlade or the FlexBlade versions. I'm leaning towards the FlexBlade just because it is so easy to clear ice from them once it does accumulate.